Vital Statistics
Body: Silverleaf maple with figured maple-veneer top
Neck: Bolt-on, rosewood-on-mahogany
Scale: 25 1/2" (22 frets)
Nut width: 1 11/16"
Tuners: Die-cast
Bridge: L.R. Baggs X-Bridge
Pickups: Two Godin humbuckers and one single-coil, active piezo saddle transducers
Controls: Volume and tone for magnetic pickups, piezo volume, 5-way selector
Weight: 8 lbs
Designed to deliver electric and acoustic tones, the Solidac has passive magnetic pickups and an active piezo system. You get a mono blend of the two systems by plugging into the mix output, and there's a separate jack for the mag pickups. (A single 9-volt battery is contained in an easy-open compartment on the back.) In magnetic mode, the Solidac sounds crisp and immediate, with aggressive distortion sounds that are very well defined. The 5-way switch yields a plethora of big-bottomed rhythm and lead tones, though the absence of a coil-cut switch means that the only Strat-like flavor is from the beefy-sounding middle pickup.
The Baggs X-Bridge does an excellent job of emulating the response of a piezo-equipped flat-top. Even with no tone control, the sound is balanced and believable through a standard guitar amp. The high-output preamp can make the guitar extremely sensitive to handling noise, but it's unlikely that you'll need to run the volume much higher than halfway-even when chonking out "acoustic" parts with a loud band. The Solidac's LGX-series neck is ultra comfortable, and the spot-on setup provides excellent playability. Thanks to its dual outputs, the Solidac is also an ideal candidate for multi-amp setups.
Pros: A well-made hybrid with a variety of electric tones and an above-average acoustic/electric sound.
Cons: Piezo system overly sensitive to mechanical noise.